


Evergreen

by shrodingersgay



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Fix-It, M/M, Slow Burn, and they were ROOMMATES, oh my god they were roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 15:38:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20837936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shrodingersgay/pseuds/shrodingersgay
Summary: ““You look like shit,” Eddie said, almost in a joking manner.Richie let out a laugh. “That’s pretty rich coming from the one in the hospital bed,” he pointed out.Eddie promptly ignored the comment, narrowing his eyes at Richie. “You look like you haven’t slept properly in days,” he said, his tone coming out more concerned than he had probably intended.“I haven’t,” Richie mumbled,”





	Evergreen

When Eddie woke up, Richie nearly fell out of his chair. Mostly because he had been half asleep, and also because Eddie had been unconscious for three days. 

“Holy shit, Eds are you awake?” Richie asked, practically sprinting to the bedside after he gained some balance.

There’s a beat of silence, and then:

“Don’t fucking call me that.” 

Richie let out a half laugh half sigh of relief. “Holy shit,” he said, having to resist the urge to wrap the other man in a hug. He knew that’d be a dumb thing to do for a couple of reasons, mostly because Eddie had nearly  _ died _ three days ago, and he was still very much healing. No need to dwell on why else it would be a dumb move. Instead, he went back to the chair, slumping down into it, and ran a hand over his face with a sigh. 

“You look like shit,” Eddie said, almost in a joking manner. 

Richie let out a laugh. “That’s pretty rich coming from the one in the hospital bed,” he pointed out. 

Eddie promptly ignored the comment, narrowing his eyes at Richie. “You look like you haven’t slept properly in days,” he said, his tone coming out more concerned than he had probably intended. 

“I haven’t,” Richie mumbled, looking anywhere but at Eddie's furrowed brow. “I’m going to go let the staff and the others know you’re awake,” he said, taking long strides to get out quickly from the room before Eddie could protest. He hadn’t exactly wanted to confront  _ why _ he’d been barely sleeping, in a hospital chair, hardly leaving Eddie’s side for three days. He knew why, he just didn’t really want to think about it at the moment. Not that that was working out very well for him. 

He hadn’t really stopped thinking about Eddie since he’d remembered him. The fact that he’d forgotten him to begin with still made him ache. He’d been in love with Eddie since they were kids, he still loved him now, and had been so easy to fall back into that love.

He alerted a nurse that Eddie was awake, and texted the group chat, letting the rest of the losers know Eddie was up. Beverly met him first, since she had already been at the hospital. It had been her turn to try and get Richie to take a break from worrying about Eddie. It hadn’t worked. Never would have. 

“He’s up? Why aren’t you still with him?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. 

He huffed. “I kind of panicked about what to say when he woke up, and I left once the relief of him being awake wore off a bit,” he said, avoiding Bev’s knowing eyes. 

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Come on Trashmouth, lets go,” she prompted, turning to walk back towards Eddie’s room. 

The nurse was still in the room, checking vitals on Eddie, and he mostly looked irritated. Almost like she was doing it wrong. He probably thought she was. She seemed to be finishing up though as she moved her things out of the room. 

“She didn’t dress my wound properly, will someone please get me some bandages so I can do it properly myself,” Eddie said, laying back down in the bed somewhat stiffly. 

“Eddie, I’m sure the nurse did just fine,” Bev tried to say, which only seemed to irritate Eddie further. 

“Fine, whatever, if I die because of an infection I’m blaming you. I will come back and haunt your ass, Beverly,” he snapped. 

“Promise you’ll come haunt me too then, Eds ” Richie chimed in with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. Or maybe he was trying to catch Eddie’s attention. 

Eddie rolled his eyes, but he seemed to have calmed slightly as he turned to look out the window. “What happened?” He asked eventually.

“We killed it,” Richie said, and he had the stupidest urge to hug Eddie again, to hold him and know he was safe and there, and not dead in the sewers like he could have been. Instead he stayed planted in place next to Bev as they wait for the rest of the losers to show up. 

————-

When it was all over and Eddie is discharged, they all parted ways, promising to keep in touch. Richie wanted to say something to Eddie, anything really, about how he felt, or what he wanted, what he felt when he remembered Eddie, or how he felt when he thought he’d die. Instead he told Eddie he’d be there if he needed anything, and he left. 

Eddie was married, he reminded himself. To a  _ woman _ . 

It didn’t matter how he felt. 

  
  


————-

Richie came home to find his apartment just how he’d left it. He called his manager to see how bad things looked for his career. They were bad. He’d bombed his last show and then gone off the grid for nearly two weeks. Things didn’t look good. 

“What the hell happened anyway?” His manager finally asked. 

“I don’t know. A lot, some old drama from my childhood came back to haunt me, I guess,” was really all he managed.

“Family issues.”

He was in mourning over the life he’d likely lost, but he willed himself to move on. He always did. Not that he was very good at it. He still hadn’t really moved on from everything that had just happened. He hadn’t moved on from everything he’d remembered, or his time in Derry, or his feelings for Eddie. He still couldn’t let go of the fact that he’d  _ forgotten _ . Not that that had changed anything once he remembered. 

He had been wallowing for nearly two days when it happened. 

There had been a knock at the door, and he’d answered it to find Eddie with ridiculous amounts of baggage. Richie had simply stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment. 

“Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me with this shit?” Eddie asked expectantly. Richie blinked rapidly as he was pushed to the side by Eddie coming into his apartment. 

“Eddie, what the fuck?” Richie asked feeling more than a little confused. 

“I got a divorce,” he said, dropping several bags in the living room. 

“I— uh? I’m sorry?” Richie said, feeling more confused by the second. 

“No, it’s a good thing,” Eddie corrected as he turned to look at Richie. 

“Okay, congratulations then. Why are you  _ here _ ?” Richie asked. 

Eddie seemed to falter for a moment, then he looked like he might be sick. “You said if I ever needed anything…” 

“And I meant it,” he quickly amended, “I just don’t understand  _ why _ you’re here?” 

“I needed a place to stay while I sort things out,” he said fidgeting with the sleeves of his jacket. 

“Okay,” Richie said, and Eddie seemed surprised for a moment, and then incredibly relieved. 

“Okay,” he repeated. 


End file.
